Free Ezra and the Lion Cub by W. L. Liberman

 
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    Ezra was an 11-year old shoeshine boy in the city of Gondar, Ethiopia.
Every day he pestered passers-by to shine their shoes so he could earn enough money to pay for food and shelter.
    â€œShine your shines, mister? Shine your shoes?”

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    Ezra didn’t have a family. He didn’t have a home. He never went to school.
Day after day, it was always the same. “Shine your shoes, mister?” “Shine your shoes, ma’am?”
He earned very little and some days, nothing at all.
On those days, he couldn’t buy any food or pay for his shelter.

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    Ezra didn’t see much around him. What he saw were the toes of people’s shoes and sometimes their bare feet.
The people whose shoes he shined were also poor.
Everyone he knew was poor in one way or another.

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    At night, Ezra would share a room with five or six other boys.
It was the same with these boys too.
No family. No school. No money.

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    Ezra’s life was filled with things he couldn’t do. He couldn’t sleep past dawn because he had to be ready as people got up to go to work, in case they wanted their shoes shined.
He couldn’t take a break whenever he wanted in case he missed a customer.
He couldn’t buy what he wanted because he had little money. He couldn’t live where he wanted because the room was all he could afford. He couldn’t go to school because he didn’t have enough money to pay for his school materials.

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    Ezra desperately wanted to go to school. He wanted to learn how to read.
He wanted to find out how other people lived. He wanted to make sense of the world around him and life outside of Gondar.

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    Ezra could dream.
At night as he lay wrapped in his thin blanket with his head on a flat pillow, he dreamed of himself as Ezra, king of the forest.
This was a different Ezra. An Ezra who could do what he wanted…but then of course, unexpected things happen even when they are imagined:

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    Ezra’s mother told him never to go into the forest on his own …but he never listened. “It is a dark and dangerous place,” his mother said.
Then off he would go, plunging into the deep darkness of the forest without looking back.

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    Because he was so pleased with himself, Ezra made a proclamation:
“I am King of the Forest,” he declared. “I am the ruler of the forest,” he said to anyone or anything that would listen.

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    â€œYou look like an ass to me,” said a voice.
“Who are you?” asked Ezra.
“You aren’t a very smart king if you must ask.
I am a donkey, your majesty.”
“You dare speak to me this way?”
“I’m afraid so,” said the donkey.

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    â€œA king mustn’t walk when he can ride.
I command you to carry me through the forest.”
“Beast of burden, that’s me” replied the donkey.
“Of course, King…King…?”
“King Ezra to you, silly donkey.”

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    â€œWhere to, your Majesty?”
“Just keep going until I tell you to stop.”
“Just my luck. A king who doesn’t know where he is going.”

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    â€œHurry up!” commanded King Ezra.
“Easy for you to say…your majesty.”

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    Ezra and the donkey made their way through the woods.
It was tough going. Ezra was hit in the face by a branch.
“Hey, watch where you’re going.”
“But I am,” the donkey replied.

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    Something or someone got in their way.
    â€œWho are you? You are blocking the path.” “I hear you are bragging about being king of the forest,” said the lion cub.
“I am king of the forest,” Ezra replied.
“Smells like trouble,” said the donkey.

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    â€œEveryone knows I am king of the forest,” retorted the lion cub.
“No, you’re not. I